I heard the news this morning from someone I follow on Twitter.
Mr. Takahashi’s body was discovered off the coast of Okinawa with his snorkeling gear. As of this point, his death was a tragic accident (will update if and when more information is uncovered).
My area of fandom focuses primarily on the 4kids dub of the anime series so that’s where a lot of my focus is going to be.
Mr. Takahashi’s body was discovered off the coast of Okinawa with his snorkeling gear. As of this point, his death was a tragic accident (will update if and when more information is uncovered).
My area of fandom focuses primarily on the 4kids dub of the anime series so that’s where a lot of my focus is going to be.
Comments on Takahashi
Regarding Mr. Takahashi himself, he was the creator of the original manga series and its characters.
There’s a really cool statement from him reflecting on the end of the series that I’ll share the link for.
Another annoying thing I didn’t care for: filler episodes/story arcs. When things are getting really good and you’re on the edge of your seat, then oops… we’re gonna spend a half an hour (or months) having flashbacks and some other side arc nobody really cares about.
Looking at the series as a whole, I believe the main story arcs are Duelist Kingdom, the Battle City tournament and the origin of the shadow games (where the pharaoh from the millennium puzzle regains his memories). Everything else is essentially unimportant filler.
The virtual world side arc was the extremely unwelcome interruption to the Battle City arc nobody asked for.
There was another dueling tournament Kaiba put together that he didn’t participate in but the villain… let’s just say Iron-Man 2 used a similar motivation for Whiplash.
Waking The Dragons- sure, the fate of the world was at stake but the villain had no connection to the ongoing story at all… plus, I’m still annoyed with how they ruined recurring character Mai Valentine. She was always a strong independent woman and she parted company with the main cast on good terms. Then the writers decided all of that character development never happened and she’s now part of the villain’s cult/entourage.
Not to mention they changed her voice actress… a HUGE pet peeve of mine.
They did the same with Mokuba in the KaibaCorp tournament arc, but I found that change only mildly annoying.
Tristan had one voice actor (Sam Riegal) for the first 10 episodes and the new one (John Campbell) stayed for the rest of the series… but I knew the second voice actor long before the first one so that wasn’t a big issue either.
Thankfully, none of the other main characters went through any major changes… I’ve unfollowed other series in the past for this one reason.
Hurray for Censorship?
True fans of the anime know it went through a lot of changes when it was translated into English via 4KIDS. This company gets a really bad rap for censorship, but my 15 year old self is happy some things got censored. Notably the aesthetic of Mai’s signature monster card Harpie lady.
Another change that carried over to much of the series- the creation of the Shadow Realm. There’s several occasions where the villains want to cause bodily harm to the heroes, but this was changed to “if you lose, I’m going to send you to hell” or their version of hell.
*A regular character introduced in season 2 before battle city- Duke Devlin… he had the instrumental from “Sexyback” looping in the background whenever he talked… I hate that song with a burning passion but I approved of its usage for this character. (The copyright police probably didn’t appreciate it though. This series has a checkered history of having videos pulled. It was also how I first learned about RickRolling. People posted videos with thumbnails matching the content, but when you click on the video, it’s just a clip of that one Rick Astley video).
*The most genius thing he did- giving recurring characters Rex and Weevil Beavis and Butthead voices… every time they appear on screen, I laugh my butt off cuz I know I’m going to be in for a good time.
Personal Impact
I’d done various fan art since I was in 4th grade for various series. Yu-Gi-Oh was very prominent, especially 2002-2004.
It got me more interested in Egyptian mythology than I would’ve been otherwise… although that probably only went as far as the Rick Riordan chronicles of Kane trilogy.
I started writing Pokémon fanfiction in 1999 and over time, various things I was into became integrated into the series.
With Yu-Gi-Oh, it turned into a crossover event… then my character stayed behind and contributed to various Battle City subplots.
Ultimately, the whole affair didn’t end well. I thought I could write a story arc where I change Kaiba to make him less of a jerk and less obsessed with reclaiming his title as "world's greatest duelist." All because I went through a brief period of just feeling sorry for him…
Nothing ever came of it because I essentially ran out of ideas. Then when I went back to Pokémon, a timeline split happened and my continuity got screwed up.
Another story I wrote (this one’s original), I named the love interest, Joey cuz I couldn’t get the name out of my head. Except he doesn’t have a Brooklyn accent. Considering it takes place in Alaska, I should’ve at least given him an Inuit accent... except I don’t have a point of reference.
I wouldn’t go as far to say Mai Valentine is among my top favorite anime characters, but she left her mark in a couple ways.
When I saw Spirited Away, I thought Lin sounded just like her and that was one of a few things that hooked me into the movie. (Not the same actress, but I loved Susan Egan in Hercules).
Between those two things, another book I’m writing has a Mai character. She’s the head cheerleader who takes the new girl under her wing. She also writes the gossip column for the school paper. The primary target of this column winds up being the main character and the new girl’s love interest… so a lot of character development is in order. I’m always going to picture that character (and her voice) in my head when I write about her, but if I ever get back to editing, I should at least change her name.
Before I go, some fan art…
Regarding Mr. Takahashi himself, he was the creator of the original manga series and its characters.
There’s a really cool statement from him reflecting on the end of the series that I’ll share the link for.
https://twitter.com/YuGiOHTwink/status/1544970418011787264/photo/1
The way he describes Yugi finding another self after putting together the puzzle and how the series was about face to face interaction… it’s mind blowing as well as an interesting commentary on what our society has become.
Reading about his love for his creation is especially inspiring. When it comes to a lot of media, I more often get the impression that actors and creators either don’t love their jobs or they fall out of love with their work for a number of reasons. When it comes to anime and voice acting in general, I’ve found that the opposite is true. Hayao Miyazaki was another creator from Japan whose work was a labor of love.
The fact Eric Stuart paid tribute to Mr. Takahashi for creating Seto Kaiba, a role that played a major part in his voice-acting career… I couldn’t even put into words how cool that was. Voice actors really are underrated rock stars and someday I want to write a post to honor their work.
Like with Pokémon before it, Yu-Gi-Oh became a huge sensation once it reached America. It became a trading game card following in the footsteps of Magic: The Gathering.
(I remember “Magic” being so big when I was in middle school, the cards were constantly being confiscated alongside gel pens. I don't take part in either of these trends).
And of course it became an anime series that was later localized and dubbed in English.
How much Mr. Takahashi was involved with the anime or what his feelings about it were, I’m not sure. All I found was that he supervised the production of the Dark Dimension film (which I’ve yet to see) and was billed as the creator of the series and its characters, so this is where my discussion about him will end.
My History with Yu-Gi-Oh! and anime commentary
My history with anime started with Pokémon and progressed to Sailor Moon, Card Captors and finally Yu-Gi-Oh. Two of the three had promos being aired on WB (now the CW network) so frequently, it was only a matter of time before I started tuning in.
I can’t recall my exact entry point into Yu-Gi-Oh but once I was in, I stuck with it for the entire run of the original 4kids dub with the original cast. I did watch the GX spin-off but not all of it… pretty much once the saga with Yugi and the millennium puzzle ended, I lost all interest.
Just as a catch all for the uninitiated, this series is essentially about teenagers playing a trading card game to resolve various conflicts… often with the fate of the world at stake. Its origins date back to ancient Egypt. There’s also seven millennium items: magical objects that bestow incredible power to those who possess them. Several of the bad guys in the series want to possess all seven in hopes of achieving their goals.
Between magic, mythology and the characters, it was a really fascinating series to watch. It was also very frustrating at times. It often operated on a soap opera format where there were cliffhangers and all that “stay tuned next week to find out what happens next” nonsense. Forbid you miss a week because your family made plans to be somewhere else that Saturday morning.
The way he describes Yugi finding another self after putting together the puzzle and how the series was about face to face interaction… it’s mind blowing as well as an interesting commentary on what our society has become.
Reading about his love for his creation is especially inspiring. When it comes to a lot of media, I more often get the impression that actors and creators either don’t love their jobs or they fall out of love with their work for a number of reasons. When it comes to anime and voice acting in general, I’ve found that the opposite is true. Hayao Miyazaki was another creator from Japan whose work was a labor of love.
The fact Eric Stuart paid tribute to Mr. Takahashi for creating Seto Kaiba, a role that played a major part in his voice-acting career… I couldn’t even put into words how cool that was. Voice actors really are underrated rock stars and someday I want to write a post to honor their work.
Like with Pokémon before it, Yu-Gi-Oh became a huge sensation once it reached America. It became a trading game card following in the footsteps of Magic: The Gathering.
(I remember “Magic” being so big when I was in middle school, the cards were constantly being confiscated alongside gel pens. I don't take part in either of these trends).
And of course it became an anime series that was later localized and dubbed in English.
How much Mr. Takahashi was involved with the anime or what his feelings about it were, I’m not sure. All I found was that he supervised the production of the Dark Dimension film (which I’ve yet to see) and was billed as the creator of the series and its characters, so this is where my discussion about him will end.
My History with Yu-Gi-Oh! and anime commentary
My history with anime started with Pokémon and progressed to Sailor Moon, Card Captors and finally Yu-Gi-Oh. Two of the three had promos being aired on WB (now the CW network) so frequently, it was only a matter of time before I started tuning in.
I can’t recall my exact entry point into Yu-Gi-Oh but once I was in, I stuck with it for the entire run of the original 4kids dub with the original cast. I did watch the GX spin-off but not all of it… pretty much once the saga with Yugi and the millennium puzzle ended, I lost all interest.
Just as a catch all for the uninitiated, this series is essentially about teenagers playing a trading card game to resolve various conflicts… often with the fate of the world at stake. Its origins date back to ancient Egypt. There’s also seven millennium items: magical objects that bestow incredible power to those who possess them. Several of the bad guys in the series want to possess all seven in hopes of achieving their goals.
Between magic, mythology and the characters, it was a really fascinating series to watch. It was also very frustrating at times. It often operated on a soap opera format where there were cliffhangers and all that “stay tuned next week to find out what happens next” nonsense. Forbid you miss a week because your family made plans to be somewhere else that Saturday morning.
Another annoying thing I didn’t care for: filler episodes/story arcs. When things are getting really good and you’re on the edge of your seat, then oops… we’re gonna spend a half an hour (or months) having flashbacks and some other side arc nobody really cares about.
Looking at the series as a whole, I believe the main story arcs are Duelist Kingdom, the Battle City tournament and the origin of the shadow games (where the pharaoh from the millennium puzzle regains his memories). Everything else is essentially unimportant filler.
The virtual world side arc was the extremely unwelcome interruption to the Battle City arc nobody asked for.
There was another dueling tournament Kaiba put together that he didn’t participate in but the villain… let’s just say Iron-Man 2 used a similar motivation for Whiplash.
Waking The Dragons- sure, the fate of the world was at stake but the villain had no connection to the ongoing story at all… plus, I’m still annoyed with how they ruined recurring character Mai Valentine. She was always a strong independent woman and she parted company with the main cast on good terms. Then the writers decided all of that character development never happened and she’s now part of the villain’s cult/entourage.
Not to mention they changed her voice actress… a HUGE pet peeve of mine.
They did the same with Mokuba in the KaibaCorp tournament arc, but I found that change only mildly annoying.
Tristan had one voice actor (Sam Riegal) for the first 10 episodes and the new one (John Campbell) stayed for the rest of the series… but I knew the second voice actor long before the first one so that wasn’t a big issue either.
Thankfully, none of the other main characters went through any major changes… I’ve unfollowed other series in the past for this one reason.
Hurray for Censorship?
True fans of the anime know it went through a lot of changes when it was translated into English via 4KIDS. This company gets a really bad rap for censorship, but my 15 year old self is happy some things got censored. Notably the aesthetic of Mai’s signature monster card Harpie lady.
Another change that carried over to much of the series- the creation of the Shadow Realm. There’s several occasions where the villains want to cause bodily harm to the heroes, but this was changed to “if you lose, I’m going to send you to hell” or their version of hell.
There's also a bit of outrage from fans about Marik's motive in the Battle City tournament. It was changed from an Indigo Montaya "you killed my father" revenge plot to "I want the power of the pharoah for myself." Honestly, I didn't think the original version made any sense, plus that whole revenge cliche is overdone. Marik's family were entrusted as keepers for the pharoah's tomb until his return, meaning he was sheltered from the outside world and he wished that wasn't the case. To me, that makes a lot more sense.
The most notable bit of censorship: there was a season 0 that was never dubbed in English because it was so dark there was no way for 4KIDS to make it, well, kid friendly.
The Abridged Series
Another really cool thing that came from the anime- the YouTube abridged series. It’s essentially a parody created by user LittleKuriboh where new dialogue was dubbed over clips of the series. Half the time it makes fun of the events of the show and the other half is pop culture references… long before meme culture was a big thing.
Some of it is super ridiculous and stupid (I'm not a fan of what they did with any of the female characters for too many reasons to list), but I’ve enjoyed a lot of it. His voice for Kaiba is so close to Eric Stuart, it’s scary. His main shtick is bragging about being rich. Case in point- “screw the rules, I have money!”
The most notable bit of censorship: there was a season 0 that was never dubbed in English because it was so dark there was no way for 4KIDS to make it, well, kid friendly.
The Abridged Series
Another really cool thing that came from the anime- the YouTube abridged series. It’s essentially a parody created by user LittleKuriboh where new dialogue was dubbed over clips of the series. Half the time it makes fun of the events of the show and the other half is pop culture references… long before meme culture was a big thing.
Some of it is super ridiculous and stupid (I'm not a fan of what they did with any of the female characters for too many reasons to list), but I’ve enjoyed a lot of it. His voice for Kaiba is so close to Eric Stuart, it’s scary. His main shtick is bragging about being rich. Case in point- “screw the rules, I have money!”
Other memorable additions:
* Bandit Keith has a catchphrase where he always ends his sentences with “in America”.
* Bandit Keith has a catchphrase where he always ends his sentences with “in America”.
*Tristan maintains his dopey original voice but it makes some of his lines even more hilarious.
“My voice gives me super strength!” There’s also a line in the dub where he says “in another few hours, the sun will rise.” And there's a point when he’s questioned about what it means, he just says “I don’t know! I just know it’s true!” I mean, he’s got a point.
“My voice gives me super strength!” There’s also a line in the dub where he says “in another few hours, the sun will rise.” And there's a point when he’s questioned about what it means, he just says “I don’t know! I just know it’s true!” I mean, he’s got a point.
*A regular character introduced in season 2 before battle city- Duke Devlin… he had the instrumental from “Sexyback” looping in the background whenever he talked… I hate that song with a burning passion but I approved of its usage for this character. (The copyright police probably didn’t appreciate it though. This series has a checkered history of having videos pulled. It was also how I first learned about RickRolling. People posted videos with thumbnails matching the content, but when you click on the video, it’s just a clip of that one Rick Astley video).
*The most genius thing he did- giving recurring characters Rex and Weevil Beavis and Butthead voices… every time they appear on screen, I laugh my butt off cuz I know I’m going to be in for a good time.
Personal Impact
I’d done various fan art since I was in 4th grade for various series. Yu-Gi-Oh was very prominent, especially 2002-2004.
It got me more interested in Egyptian mythology than I would’ve been otherwise… although that probably only went as far as the Rick Riordan chronicles of Kane trilogy.
I started writing Pokémon fanfiction in 1999 and over time, various things I was into became integrated into the series.
With Yu-Gi-Oh, it turned into a crossover event… then my character stayed behind and contributed to various Battle City subplots.
Ultimately, the whole affair didn’t end well. I thought I could write a story arc where I change Kaiba to make him less of a jerk and less obsessed with reclaiming his title as "world's greatest duelist." All because I went through a brief period of just feeling sorry for him…
Nothing ever came of it because I essentially ran out of ideas. Then when I went back to Pokémon, a timeline split happened and my continuity got screwed up.
Another story I wrote (this one’s original), I named the love interest, Joey cuz I couldn’t get the name out of my head. Except he doesn’t have a Brooklyn accent. Considering it takes place in Alaska, I should’ve at least given him an Inuit accent... except I don’t have a point of reference.
I wouldn’t go as far to say Mai Valentine is among my top favorite anime characters, but she left her mark in a couple ways.
When I saw Spirited Away, I thought Lin sounded just like her and that was one of a few things that hooked me into the movie. (Not the same actress, but I loved Susan Egan in Hercules).
Between those two things, another book I’m writing has a Mai character. She’s the head cheerleader who takes the new girl under her wing. She also writes the gossip column for the school paper. The primary target of this column winds up being the main character and the new girl’s love interest… so a lot of character development is in order. I’m always going to picture that character (and her voice) in my head when I write about her, but if I ever get back to editing, I should at least change her name.
Before I go, some fan art…
Yugi & The Pharaoh
Mai Valentine
Mokuba (left), Seto Kaiba (right)
Joey Wheeler (Battle City look)
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